Lyme disease: ‘My life was turned upside down by a tick bite’

Ms Bray is now stuck in limbo, unable to access treatment unless she goes private.

To work towards this, a GoFundMe has been set up by Medicine Fundraising Events.

“It’s given me hope, the chance to get better and get my life back,” the 32-year-old said.

Currently they are aiming for one year’s worth of Ozone therapy costing £7,000.

It is under-researched, external, but has generated a lot of interest from people living with Lyme disease.

However this is a treatment Ms Bray would need forever.

Alternatively she could travel to Germany for “proper treatment, including antibiotics and immune therapy” for 12 weeks which would cost £18,000.

She said: “If you are bitten by a tick and develop a bullseye rash, make sure to get antibiotics at an early stage because if you don’t it gets much more complicated.”

She added “the guidelines need to be changed” when it comes to treatment.

“They say four weeks is enough – it may be for people treated in the early days of being bitten but not for people who go on to be chronic.”

The NHS follows guidelines from NICE, which has been contacted for comment.

If Ms Bray recovers, she said she hopes to one day climb Yr Wyddfa, also known as Snowdon, again with her daughter and “do the things I’d planned to do”.

“Obviously I’d be happy if I got 50% better,” she said.